I got the pan separated from the body. Just lifting it up high enough to make the final repairs on the front driver side heater channel area. It was messed up and went into the front bulkhead too. That was the last of the rust repair.

While I was down there, I sized up the reinforcement for the beam extension. I will make it so it is removable. It will attach to the front bulkhead just above where the two panels merge.

I have been waiting for my beam and a few other pieces that dont fit in my blasting booth to get sandblasted for over two weeks. I went to the place on Thur, and they said they would have them for me yesterday. They said a part went down on their sandblaster. I heard that too the last time. Little do they know, I have a sandblaster, only so many things can "go Down" besides the compressor. They are closed today or I would go get the shit. I'm heading there monday to pick up everything.

Thanks again for the bumpers, I haven't put them on yet (or even tried, I'm kinda lazy) but I did hold them up to the car and they look badass! Not quite as badass as the General, though As killer as it's looking online, it's so much more irl, can't wait to see it in action!

Right on Nick,
Glad you got them where you want them. It will be interesting to see. Will that center section graft work out ok? If you need a hand welding that in, you can bring it up sometime and we can splice them.

I'm thinking of picking up a welder here pretty soon, I wanna smooth the turn signals off the front fenders and french the rear turns in as well as replace some rusted out fender nuts. I've never really done any welding except with a shitty Harbor Freight welder and i ended up using a TON of bondo to smooth out those shaved doors. I may take you up on some advice or a mini welding tutorial, but like I said, I'm pretty lazy so who knows when this'll all go down.

Today I started on the bulk head reinforcement. First think is to drill out the old threads for the beam bolts. I used a 1/2 inch bit to get rid of the existing threads. I am using 1//2 in bolts. I started with 1.5x1.5 in. angle notched so the bolts would pass through them on the back side.
Then measuring the width of the front section of the body where it would bolt up, I made sure that it would attach in a spot where it would get the most out of the strength of the front panels where they were spot welded together. I took 1.25 in wide .120 wall square stock and added tabs that were later drilled out for bolts. You could simply drill out the square stock and pass the bolts through. But this is the way I chose to do it simply to not weaken it with the holes. Then drilled out the front panels and mounted the cross brace. Then using a angle finder, I calculated the angle of the remaining braces and cut them on the chop box with the proper angle. I tacked it all together. It will get finish welded when I pull the body off of the pan.

I am going to add panels with large diameter holes on the side. They will be removable in order to access the master cylinder and brake lines.

Well it has been a week of great weather and me catching up on winter storm damage. I also finished up a deck off my master bedroom for my wife. She has been so patient. But now she has her own Volkswagen too. I told her as soon as I am done with mine, we will paint hers.
I had to replace the tranny in the 69. It wasnt too bad except for the tranny that I got for replacement was for a late model. Had to change out the nose cones and after I had the motor in, I realized that the motor had the wrong pressure plate on it. I went with a diaphram style pressure plate. The latemodel throw out bearing didnt need the plate with the collar in the middle. Ughhh.... So the motor came out again, this time only having to drop it to the floor to change out the pressure plate.

Put the motor back in and wired it up, it fired up as soon as I fixed all the gas leaks I found as soon as I put gas in it. UGH....shop full of gas. HHAHAHAHA. Oh well, I survived.

I am also picking up another 69 in the next few weeks. A complete runner. I am getting it for a great price. Wife OKed it. :)

Here are some of the shots from the past week. Back on to the Gen Vee this week. I finally got everything back from the blaster.

This afternoon I got to get the ragtop welded in. I sandblasted the section before I welded it in. Ground down the welds and have to do the inner bracing next.

I got all the rest of the front end blasted and cleaned up ready for some Chassis Black. I will spray it in the morning. Next week I will do the ball joints and then pull the body off the pan and start the chassis and finish up the remaining welding, which isnt much on the body.

I also got my sprint bars from Chirco. I bolted them up and placed the ammo can in there to see how it all fits. I need to mod the bars a bit to make brackets to bolt up the ammo cans. Who knows what the ammo cans will hold. There will be a bunch of different size cans in the car for storage. I am going to head to Lowes tomorrow to get some steel and contemplate making my own roof rack.

Now that I have the sprint bars on the side of the car, I am contemplating having the rims sent out for a new hoop. Possibly a 16 in wider rim to get the tire out there a little bit.

On another note, I picked up yet another bug. An all original unmolested 69. I got it on trade for some classes that I teach at a local Technical School. The care is complete and running. Has great patina. Just needs slammed and some nice 2 liters. I will be getting the car delivered later next week and will post pics then.

The car above is going to get turned into a baja. It has some front clip damage that will get sliced off and make the conversion a breeze.

My attraction to volksrods is that these are bottom-feeders where things are still real ... people scraping together parts, doing their own work and often on a tight budget. Real hot rodding is still alive here.

I was just thinking about my next project (yeah, already thinking about the next....) and I was thinking a military themed rail, kinda like the ones in the Chuck Norris movie Delta Force, and then I remembered your theme. It's looking awesome....moving along nicely..

I love the design work on this car. I'd like to see it as a finished paint custom instead of the military look. That arched window opening would look great with full fenders, skirts and an ass-dragging stance.

I can appreciate that. And thanks!! It would look cool custom painted with shiny paint. I have to stick with my original intentions though. I have it so resolved in my head that I can't see past the vision. I have 3 other bugs now to mess with some different looks in the future. Here is an idea for one of them. I think I may have to get a Super to pull it off they way I want. The drawing is modified from one somebody posted here I believe. I was inspired by the fender combo.

The weather has been nice, but my wife hasn't. EHHEEH. Her honey do list is long and abusive. I have put up about 110 ft of fencing, finished the deck off of the master bed room. Built a chicken coop and run.

I have been waiting on front end components in the mail this past week. I need to get it back on the ground and rolling. So I started to assemble the parts. I sandblasted and cleaned everything I could. I ordered new wheel cylinders and new pads. I had the drums turned down. Pressed in new ball joints, which was a bitch I may add. Not so much getting the new ones in, but getting the old ones out. I got some KYB gas-a-just shocks and painted them the color of the car.

I have also been finishing up some of the odds and ends on the drivers side. I wanted to wait until I could turn the car around and have the side I was working on near the fab bench. But, I could not wait any longer on parts and decided to rough it.

I don't think it will be road worthy. But am hoping to have it at Bandimere. I will be at VWOTG regardless. I am going to bring my wife and daughter too so they can get some ideas for the 69 Bug I got for them.

Big day for the General Vee, I got my brake shoes in and reassembled the front end. I am waiting on tie rod ends but just dropped the old ones in place so I could roll it out and flip it over to finish up some of the welding on the drivers side. Man the front end is tight with new ball joints.

Very happy with the stance. I like the rake too. I will lose a bit in the rear with the engine, but I am going to see what it looks like before I drop it a spline in the back.

My attraction to volksrods is that these are bottom-feeders where things are still real ... people scraping together parts, doing their own work and often on a tight budget. Real hot rodding is still alive here.

Thanks Carlene,
I started off working on the front end today and modifying the bumper mount to clear the adjusters on the beam. No biggy, then mounted the bumper to the front of the car.

Then my daughter accidentally crushed one of her baby chickens. Closed a gate on it when it was trying to get out of the run. Quite traumatizing for a 9 year old. She has 10 chickens that are her responsibility. Then I spent about 3 hours driving around trying to find a replacement chicken of the same breed and age so it could mingle with the others of the same size. After I got her back to normal and calmed down I started in again.

I worked on some more welding on the inner and door on the drivers side, then I started on the roof rack. I haven't seen too many racks on V-rods, and I want my car to be very utilitarian, so I went for a modified oval racer look. I still have a ways to go, but when I am done, it should help with some down force. I am going to make side panels with large holes in it for effect.

I used 1/2 inch Electrical Conduit. Grinded the galvanization off of the welded areas. I hate welding conduit, but couldnt find a supplier open today that had 1/2 in thin wall. I used a conduit bender to make the bends. It worked really well. You can see I started the long side bends by using the drip rail on my 69.

Oh and finally, big thanks the Steve for getting my badge!!! This buds for you bro.